The Sword and the Shield
by I'mNoOneSpecial
Summary: Not too long ago, Amelia has told Franz about how she lost her mother and ended up a soldier. Now the two of them are closer than best friends but not quite a couple. What did it take for them to become a real couple? The Tower of Valni. Mostly Franz x Amelia, hints of Colm x Neimi.


**Hello Fire Emblem Fans, this is I'mNoOneSpecial,**

 **For the past time I have been writing LOZ FFs and I have been very successful... at failure. My stories get practically no attention. So I got pissed and decided to write down this chapter of my Fire Emblem Sacred Stones fanfic. I had started this a long time ago, but I stopped writing. I kinda lost interest. Now though, I will focus first on this fanfic. before I continue my LOZ fanfic. "A Couple of Adventurers". Maybe I was trying too hard or something, either way I'm taking a break.**

 **Enough about my rant; this fanfic. is about my favorite pair in Fire Emblem Sacred Stones: Franz and Amelia. This is also going to be my one and only Fire Emblem fanfic. I have thought about writing one about Kent and Fiora, but nothing concrete, so forget about it.**

 **Oh, one last thing; in this story you'll encounter things like "General Seth" and "young knight Franz", this refers to their rank/title NOT to their in-game job class. This was also done a couple of times in the game.**

 **I own nothing of the Fire Emblem franchise.**

 **Now to the story.**

* * *

"Okay, how about this one? What golden treasure is always guarded by an army of flying soldiers?"

"Uh..." the young village boy's face scrunched up, "...the Frelian treasury...?"

"Wha-?! Ahahaha!" the red haired boy next to him broke out laughing, "...seriously Ross you are so-"

"What! You callling me dumb Ewan?"

"No, no Ross-" Ewan tried to pacify him.

Close by, a couple of girls, were giggling at their antics while another older boy pretended not to care. Letting out a quiet snort, he went back to eating his bowl of stew.

It had been a few weeks since the fall of Grado, but the war was far from over. Right now though, Prince Ephraim's retinue was resting from its march. It was late evening, tents were set up, bonfires had been lit, and bowls of stew had been passed. The soldiers were all sitting around fires, enjoying their evening meal.

"Say Amelia?"

The referred to girl was all attention.

"How has been training with... him lately?"

"What? Um..." Amelia looked unsure, "W-we are getting better..."

"That's not what I was asking..." her friend replied in a teasing manner.

"W-well...! What about you Neimi? How are things been between you and... Colm?" Amelia tried to get back at Neimi.

"Pretty good actually..." Neimi said unfazed, "Lately he doesn't act so grumpy, and he is really kind to me now..." While saying so she looked over at Colm. He caught her gaze and she smiled at him. He just went back to eating his stew. But both girls saw the faint but pleasant smile he wore now.

Amelia watched them awed, but also envious (just a bit!)

"So how have things been between you and... **Franz**...?" Neimi might as well have turned Amelia's own spear against her.

Amelia's face grew as red as the armor she always wore.

"There comes Franz now..." Without meaning to, Colm helped Neimi drive in the lance.

True enough, the young knight was slowly walking towards his peers, a thoughtful expression on his face, and a bowl of stew in his hands. Seeing him like that Amelia couldn't help but wonder what troubled him...

 _"Amelia, I will protect you."_

 _"Franz... Thank you... I'm really happy. But... I want to protect you, too. So... let me be your shield to protect you..."_

 _"And I will be your sword and fight for you. From now on, you are not alone anymore, Amelia..."_

...that wasn't it!

...was it?

"Oh Franz, over here! Amelia kept a spot free for you!"

That brought back the blonde back at once! 'Neimi!'

"Thank you..." Franz briefly smiled at her and took his seat beside Amelia. But, somehow the smile wasn't really there. Right now he looked subdued and troubled. Usually he was always in a good mood, and made sure that everyone else was as well, so his friends couldn't help but wonder about his strange mood today.

"What's wrong?" Colm went straight for it.

Franz thought for a moment.

"Let us enjoy our supper first..."

The other were not really satisfied with that answer but did as he told them. So they ate, wondering what could be the reason behind Franz' behavior.

...

Having finished his supper, Franz put down his bowl and began to explain.

"Well then... I have quite a bit to tell; will everybody listen?" That was somewhat aimed at Ross and Ewan, the troublemakers of the group. "We have new orders from General Seth."

"I thought we were going to Frelia to recover and restock our supplies?"

It was somewhat rude how Colm cut in but Franz didn't mind; it wasn't that Colm meant any harm, this was just the way he was. Besides his concerns were justified: Everybody was weary from the continuous fighting and the supplies were diminishing, so Prince Ephraim had ordered a retreat to Frelia.

"Don't worry Colm, our destination hasn't changed." Franz assured, "But we are to rest as much as possible and do only little or light training."

"What?! No way!" Ross was eager to prove himself as a warrior. Off the battlefield he was always training with his father to get stronger. 'How am I supposed to beat Dad like this?!'

Amelia wasn't too happy either; she really enjoyed her training with Franz.

'Wait... we can still spend time together!' she realized with a blush.

Ewan didn't mind at all; quite the contrary! Things had been way too serious lately. 'Time for some fun!'

Neimi too was silently grateful, and glad that she could relax a bit! Ever since this war started...

"Are we heading into another battle?" Colm's words killed all happy thoughts.

"Colm..." Neimi didn't like his tone or his words at all.

Franz sighed quietly, "I'm afraid Colm is right Neimi..."

"Alright!" Ross' mood brightened, in contrast to everyone else's. He had enough of all this marching, "Who are we up against? Bandits?" After what happened to his village Ide, Ross was more than happy to take on any sort of Brigands.

"No Ross, not bandits I'm afraid..." Franz sounded like he wanted it to be bandits though.

Colm was even more cheerless, "...monsters then..."

That dampened even Ross' spirits. Fighting bandits wasn't a nice affair, but it felt right in a way. After all those outlaws preyed on helpless villagers, already suffering from the war. Ross, Colm and Neimi could attest to that.

Fighting Grado soldiers on the other hand didn't feel right at all. At first it did, but once it became clear that they had no idea who or what they were fighting for... It felt especially bad for Amelia and the other former Grado soldiers.

But fighting monster... that was the worst. Even when you defeated them you could not feel safe. You'd always feel as though they could just come back from their dark world and plaque the people of Magvel again whenever they wanted. Fighting them was so much the worse if the monsters attacked at night or during a foggy day. At times like these, the terror these fiends spread was at its peak, seemingly adding to their strength.

Now though, Franz decided to put an end to the gloomy atmosphere.

"You don't have to worry everyone. We won't be fighting any monsters until we have resupplied at Frelia."

"Huh? You mean they haven't sighted any monsters on our path?" Colm asked, confused.

"So far no. Our path is clear."

"Then what's this all about?"

"The tower of Valni?"

"Huh? Tower of Valni?"

The young apprentice mage let out a tired sigh before he began to explain, as though lecturing a little child.

"The tower of Valni, Ross, is one of Frelia's most famous and holy places. It used to house Frelia's sacred stone until Grado stormed the tower and shattered the stone. Ever since then, monsters have appeared in the tower and have made it their own, roaming through the towers halls and floors, and from the tower into the lands of Frelia... And we have been in there before." Ewan concluded.

"Oh, you mean the monster tower..." Ross tried not to let Ewan's overly smart attitude get to him, "So it's still infested with those fiends, huh? Where do they all come from anyway?" Princess Eirika and Prince Ephraim had led their company into the tower before but fighting all those monsters, they had run out of weapons and supplies and they were forced to retreat.

"No one knows Ross," Franz replied, "But maybe we will discover the answer this time-"

"Wait!" Colm cut in, "We're storming the tower of Valni?!"

"Yes, King Hayden has agreed to provide us with food and supplies but in exchange he has asked Prince Ephraim to aid Frelia in another attempt to retake the tower."

"Including us...?" Neimi was not eager to enter that creepy tower.

Franz sighed, "General Seth wants us to clear and secure the ground floor, and, if we can, the second floor as well... Just us."

"What do you mean 'just us?' Just us six?!" A young cavalier, a thief, a village girl who bawls her eyes out over every little thing, another who keeps tripping over her own feet and spear, a village brat who grew up chopping wood, and an apprentice mage who uses his magic for games... "There's at least two dozen monsters in that hall! What is that knight thinking?!"

"Heh, you worry too much Colm."

The thief glared at Ross.

"They're just a bunch of dumb walking corpses and skeletons. They're no big deal."

"No big deal?! They outnumber us four to one!"

That didn't faze Ross at all, "So? We're always up against greater numbers! And usually they are fully armed, trained soldiers."

"And we won't go in by ourselves," Franz added, "My brother Forde, his friend Kyle, and the sages Artur and Lute will be on stand-by, in case we need their assistance. General Seth will be there as well, to watch us, and Sister Natasha will be by his side to heal us if necessary."

Hearing that the priestess Natasha would be there as well made Amelia feel much better about entering that tower. After Franz had convinced her to join Princess Eirika's and Prince Ephraim's retinue, the first thing he had done was introduce Amelia to Sister Natasha, and Amelia was still grateful for it. She had felt so scared and guilty, being with a group wanted by her homeland, but her fears were put to rest once she had met Sister Natasha and heard her story. And once she had befriended Neimi and met the two kind Princesses, Princess Eirika of Renais and Princess Tana of Frelia, Amelia felt proud about having joined their group. And when the wyvern knight Cormag, brother of General Glen, the Sunstone, and later even the Obsidian, General Duessel himself, joined, Amelia knew that her decision to join had been right all along.

Doing the head count and thinking about the people Franz had mentioned, Colm felt a lot more safe and confident about tackling that floor. But-

"You said they would be on stand-by..." his voice got the attention of his peers, "Does that mean we are expected to do all the fighting?"

"Yes, you see," Franz started to explain, "During most battles we have always been at the back, following our elders, assisting them when necessary, while they took on the worst of the fighting to protect us. But now General Seth thinks that we might be strong and experienced enough to join the front lines-"

"What?! The front lines?!" Ross yelled excitedly, "You mean we get to actively participate in the fighting and not just stay back and cover the rear?!"

"That will depend on how well we will fare in the tower of Valni." Franz replied.

"So it's going to be a test..." Colm mused. Now he too felt a little eager to rise to the challenge, "So who's going to lead us?"

Franz looked troubled again, "...General Seth wants me to lead the charge."

"Oh, that's fine with me!" Ewan happily chimed in. 'As long as it's not Ross...'

"Yeah, I'm good with that too..." Ross agreed. 'Just don't make Ewan your right-hand man!'

"Oh yes, you will do a great job. Don't you think so too, Amelia?" Neimi started teasing again.

"Huh? O-of course I do..."

Colm nodded approvingly.

"Thank you everyone..." Franz felt a lot better having everyone's support, "Colm... will you help me plan our strategy?"

"Huh?" Making a battle plan wasn't the same as planning a break-in but, "Sure... Neimi?"

"Hm?"

"...stay behind me."

Neimi smiled, "Uh-huh. I will."

While Ross vented his excitement, Franz quietly looked over to Amelia. She understood and quietly smiled back.

'I will protect you...'

'And I will protect you...'

* * *

 **So how did you like it? Any reviews, comments, and constructive criticisms (even negative ones) are very welcome. Or I'd also appreciate a number rating from 0-10.**

 **0 = Delete this shit.**

 **10 = Perfect.**

 **Granted, I wrote this down to cool off and clear my mind a bit, but I still want to know how well or how badly I did.**

 **I'm nearly done with the next chapter, though I still need to encode it. People who like action and fighting should like it.**


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